Lu Jing saw that there were no outsiders in the house, so he briefly analyzed a few people: "The officials of this dynasty are relatively low, like my current official residence is only eighty taels a year, and Lu rice is only eighty taels. ”

"But in officialdom, there are already a lot of expenses, which is not enough to even invite staff, let alone attend various social activities and the basic etiquette of New Year's holidays."

"Lord Xu Zhengqu of the Yankang Dynasty, once an official to the governor of Huguang, in a good place, plain and honest and self-controlled, never accept bribes, life is extremely hard, usually only eat steamed buns and pickles, when he died in office, he left only a shabby official uniform, and no other property, his funeral or the local people pooled money for his funeral, he is a model of Qing officials."

"Therefore, being an official is either honest and self-disciplined, or corrupt and bribery, unless the family has a solid background and does not need to rely on money to live well, otherwise you must choose one of the two."

Lin Daiyu was even more puzzled after hearing this, and couldn't help asking: "I see that in addition to the annual salary, the Waijia family also has other incomes such as vegetables, candles, charcoal, silver, and red paper, although it is not very much, but it can also subsidize the family, and why is the imperial court not like the Song Dynasty when it gave civil officials a higher salary to support their integrity?" ”

Lu Jing explained: "Wuxun's Yulu is indeed several times higher than that of civil officials, the prince only has 10,000 taels a year, and the duke is also thousands of taels, but only Xungui has such treatment, in fact, the military attaché's Yulu is only a little higher than that of civil officials, like a five-grade military attaché, and only 90 taels of silver a year, and 90 taels of rice." ”

In fact, the salaries of officials have been raised again over the years, but they are still a drop in the bucket compared to the expenses, mainly because the finances of the DPRK and China have been relatively difficult, and now the ministries in Beijing and Central China still owe a lot of officials."

When Lu Jing said this, he suddenly had a guess in his heart, it is estimated that after this inspection, the emperor will implement a system of raising incorruptible silver to appease hundreds of officials.

Lu Zhiyu nodded and said: "No wonder there are so many corrupt officials, isn't the court afraid that those officials will be disgruntled?" ”

Lu Jing replied: "Sister's sentence is to the point, the court naturally wants to give benefits, but if there is not so much money, they can only give power, they have power in their hands, they can make money themselves, either accept bribes, or loot the people's fat and ointment, isn't this a benefit?" ”

Lin Daiyu frowned and said: "But they have benefited from corruption and bribery, isn't it even more detrimental to the imperial court?" ”

Lu Jing explained: "There are pros and cons to this matter, but it is more beneficial to the imperial court, because it is the right given to them by the imperial court, and in order to retain their power, they must maintain the rule of the imperial court." And as long as officials dare to be corrupt, the court will hold their handle, and they will only be obedient. ”

"Besides, if everyone is a clean official and is deeply supported by the people, once they speak out and have a conflict with the emperor, the emperor needs to consider the public opinion if he wants to remove them, and sometimes he has to make concessions, so he needs to use corrupt officials to do things for the emperor and eradicate dissidents."

When Lin Daiyu heard this, her brows frowned even more, and she asked: "But in this way, corrupt officials are rampant inside and outside the court, and the people are deeply harmed, isn't the court afraid of arousing the anger of the people?" ”

After Lu Jing smoothed Daiyu's brows, he continued: "The imperial court will not use all corrupt officials, naturally it will use some honest and honest ministers, and at the same time, this is why the imperial court should send inspectors to rectify the rule of officials, not only to use corrupt officials, but also to fight against corrupt officials, only in this way can we maintain the will of the people and consolidate the political power, but anti-corruption officials are not simply to remove corrupt officials!" ”

Why is that? Wouldn't it be better to get rid of all the corrupt officials! Daiyu was surprised.

Lu Jing shook his head and said: "Madame's words are a bit naïve, ten officials and nine greedy, if all the corrupt officials are eliminated, who will do things for the court, and those corrupt officials have been in power for many years are already fat ducks, if they are removed, there will be another batch of ducks with empty stomachs, and they will still eat the people and fat, which is even more unfavorable to the people, so they can only clean up a batch on a regular basis to kill chickens and monkeys, and when the knife hangs on the head and is not cut off, it is the most deterrent." ”

Lu Zhiyu was puzzled: "Isn't the corrupt official who has been cleaned up resentful in his heart, and the imperial court has to clean up a batch on a regular basis, who knows when it will be their turn, will they be willing to be fattened as ducks to be slaughtered?" ”

Lu Jing nodded and praised: "This question is a good question, this involves the political struggle between the DPRK and China, and the corrupt officials who are generally removed are either corrupt officials who do not listen to the emperor, or corrupt officials who have no background and cause great public resentment, or some courtiers want to eliminate dissidents and corrupt officials of hostile forces." ”

"But in any case, as long as a few corrupt officials are severely punished, and then vigorously publicized, so that the people know that the court hates corrupt officials, the people's grievances can be calmed, and the people will think that those corrupt officials who do bad things are those corrupt officials, and the court will make decisions for the people, so that they will support the court more."

"Isn't this just a special drama to fool the people!" Lu Zhiyu said angrily.

Lin Daiyu was keenly aware of the ambiguity in Lu Jing's words, so she asked: "After disposing of those officials, will the people's wealth they loot be returned to the people?" ”

Lu Jing glanced at Daiyu approvingly, shook his head solemnly and said, "Naturally not, some of them will be intercepted locally, and most of the rest will be enriched by the treasury." ”

Lin Daiyu said with a melancholy expression: "How does the concubine feel that the imperial court seems to be intent on raising these corrupt officials?" ”

Lu Jing praised: "Madame's words, since ancient times, no matter how holy the emperor is, he will raise some corrupt officials and traitors, use them to cultivate party henchmen, eliminate dissidents, and when it is not enough, he will kill the big greedy and traitors to make the people angry, and confiscate their wealth to enrich the treasury." ”

Lin Daiyu said worriedly: "Since the court is so dirty and dangerous, it is better for the husband to go into hiding as soon as possible, let's idle the clouds and wild cranes together, and we don't have to worry about being afraid every day when picking chrysanthemums." ”

Lu Jing soothed: "Madame's words are wrong, the power in your hands can protect yourself, otherwise you can only be slaughtered by others, being an official seems dangerous, in fact, the life of those ordinary people is even more difficult, the officials at least have a stable income, and they have the power in their hands, and the people only have a few taels of silver income all year round, in addition to running for a living, they also have to bear the taxes and labor assigned by the court, as well as the oppression of all parties." ”

"Madame doesn't have to worry about me, our family is solid, and I don't need to be greedy for that bit of money, since ancient times, most of the corrupt officials have not ended well, but loyal officials can die well, and when the time is right, I will naturally seek to retire and enjoy the mountains and rivers with my wife."

Zijuan nodded with deep feeling and said, "What the master said is that ordinary people like us sometimes prefer to be the slaves and maids of powerful families rather than go out, just because once they go out, they can't live." ”

Lin Daiyu nodded, and didn't say anything anymore, compared to most people, she was already too good.

After a few more conversations, Lu Jing went to Lin Ruhai, in addition to discussing the strategy of the trip to Jiangnan, and at the same time entrusted him with everything at home.

Lin Ruhai also handed over all the contacts he left in Jiangnan to Lu Jing, and promised to take care of Daiyu and Zhiyu.

At dusk, in order to cover up the danger of this trip and appease people's hearts, Lu Jing held a banquet at home to celebrate his recovery again, but he did not invite outsiders, just Lin Ruhai, Aunt Luo, Li Wen, and Li Qi.

During the banquet, Lu Jing entrusted Daiyu, Zhiyu, and Yinglian to Aunt Luo to take care of.

Aunt Luo had no plans to return to Jinling for the time being, so she agreed and promised to take care of a few people.

After the banquet, Lu Jing sent Lin Ruhai back, and the two planned again, and Lu Jing did not return to the house until the east wall of the moon.

While serving Lu Jing's wide clothes, Lin Daiyu asked, "The concubine has looked wrong since she came back, but what happened?" ”

Lu Jing sighed slightly: "Madame is really as wise as a torch, and nothing can escape your eyes." ”

Lin Daiyu looked worried: "I have been with my husband for so long, if I can't even notice my husband's abnormality, then the concubine is too derelict in her duties." ”

Lu Jing thought about it and decided to explain half of it to Daiyu to avoid her being cranky, so he said: "The emperor sent me to Jiangnan this time, and asked me to rectify the rule of Jiangnan officials, and my wife also knows that I was born in Jiangnan, and I am very clear about the things there, and there are deep involvements between various forces, if I make a move, I will inevitably implicate a bunch of forces behind, so I have a bit of a headache." ”

Lin Daiyu was extremely worried after hearing this, and thought for a while: "Can my husband resign from this errand under the pretext of illness?" ”

Lu Jing shook his head and said: "There is no such possibility, if I resign, it will be difficult to recover in the future, if it is more guilty of bullying the monarch under the pretext of illness, don't worry, Madam don't worry, I have already discussed with my father-in-law just now, and it will depend on the situation at that time, besides, the Lu family and the Lin family have a lot of power in Jiangnan, and I will help myself." ”

Lin Daiyu thought for a while and said: "My grandmother's family is also a big family in Jinling, why don't you go and beg your grandmother tomorrow, so that the Jia family's clansmen in Jinling can also help her husband or two?" ”

Lu Jing hurriedly refused: "Madame can't be like this, I will probably go to Jiangnan this time to face the Jia family, and Madame will try not to go to the Jia family during this time, if the Jia family invites, Madame can go to the father-in-law to discuss and then make a decision." ”

Lin Daiyu was surprised: "Could it be that my grandfather's family has committed an accident?" ”

"The Jia family is fine for the time being, but those tribes have many evil deeds in Jinling, and I can't be sure that they won't encounter it now, if they know that it's okay to converge, otherwise they should run into it." Lu Jing reassured, but in fact, he planned to go to Jiangnan this time, and to rectify the clansmen of the Xue family, the Jia family, and the Wang family in Jinling.

Lin Daiyu nodded vigorously, and from her husband's words, she could hear that the situation of the Jia family was not very good, and she made up her mind to wait for her husband to leave, and then close the door and not go anywhere, just wait for her husband to come back.

It was night, Lin Daiyu felt that the husband and wife would say goodbye, so she looked like she was obsessed with it.

The ice mandarin pillow opens the garden, and the willow waist is slender and soft like cotton.

No mountain is as good as Wushan, and He Feng can be rounder than Yufeng.

The warbler cries gracefully through the bead curtain, startling the carved Liang Yan in front of the hall.

Parting must be a lifetime of fighting, but Tan Lang is happy today.